


Watching Captain America The Winter Soldier

by orphan_account



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers react, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Gen, Marvel Universe, Watching Marvel Movies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27211777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Up Next: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Relationships: Brunnhilde | Valkyrie & Loki (Marvel), Gamora/Peter Quill, Groot & Rocket Raccoon, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Scott Lang/Hope Van Dyne, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 7
Kudos: 103





	1. Introduction

"You took the throne." Thor stated, angry. "I did." Loki answered. "Where is father? Did you kill him?" Thor advances toward Loki, pinning him to the wall. "No. I sent him to Midgard." Thor sighed and let him go, still angry. "Why?" He asked. "I wanted to punish him, I suppose. Wanted to prove something." Loki answered. 

"I'm sorry for your loss." Steve says to the two of them, referencing Friggas death. The brothers nodded in thanks. 

"Why does trouble always seem to follow you to Earth, twice it's been Loki and now the dark elves." Tony asked, trying to shed some light on the situation. "Yeah why is that?" Clint asked. Thor smiled a bit then shrugged.

"If the convergence is such an important thing, and ancient civilizations knew about it, why didn't me. I mean we take most of what they said as truths so why not this?" Bruce asked. But nobody knew so nobody answered.

"Okay everyone take your seats. The next film will begin in a moment." Loraine said


	2. Project insight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't seen this movie since it came out in theaters 6 years ago.

**Sam Wilson is jogging around a lake, early in the morning.**

"Is that you?" Steve asked. Sam nodded. 

**Steve, jogging faster passes him. "On your left." He says.**

"Not this again." Sam groaned.

**They get farther around the lake. Steve passes him again. "On your left."**

**"Uh-huh, on my left. Got it." Sam says.**

"Did he say that every time he passed you?" Bucky asked. Sam nodded. 

**They are still jogging. Sam looks over his shoulder to see Steve. "Don't say it! Don't you say it!"**

"No no, let him say it." Natasha said.

**"On your left."**

**"Come on!"**

"You can be such an asshole sometimes, you know." Bucky laughed.

**Sam tries to catch up with him, but can't and stops.**

"There's no use, he probably didn't even break a sweat." Clint said.

**Sam is sitting under a tree trying to catch his breath. Steve is walks up to him. "Need a medic?" He asks.**

**"I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you just ran like 13 miles in 30 minutes."**

"Impressive." Bruce said. 

**"I guess I got a late start."**

**"Oh, really? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap."**

"He's so pressed." Shuri laughed. 

**"Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."**

"He probably did." Tony said. "

I'm not that fast." Steve said.

"You're pretty fast dude, not like The Flash fast, but fast." Peter said.

**"What unit you with?" Steve questions**

**"58, Pararescue. But now I'm working down at the VA. Sam Wilson." Sam says.**

**"Steve Rogers."**

**"Yeah I kind of put that together."**

"And here I thought I was being subtle." Steve said.

**"Must have freaked you out coming home after the whole defrosting thing."**

Steve shifted in his seat, now uncomfortable.

**"It takes some getting used to. It's good to meet you, Sam." Steve turns to leave.**

**"It's your bed right?"**

"What?" 

**"What's that?"**

**" Your bed, it's too soft."**

"See, he gets it." Clint said.

**"When I was over there I'd sleep on the ground and use rock for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like..."**

"A marshmallow." Steve finished.

**"Lying on a marshmallow."**

Steve blinked.

**"Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor. How long?"**

**"Two tours. You must miss the good old days, huh?"**

Steve sighed. He's gotten asked that question a lot recently. "Always." He answered.

**"Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better, we used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot trying to catch up."**

"Well, you're in for a very long history lesson." Fury said. Steve nodded in agreement.

**"Marvin Gaye, 1972, "Trouble Man" soundtrack. Everything you've missed jammed into one album." Sam said.**

**"I'll put it on the list." Steve takes out a notepad.**

"Pause, let's see what you got on there." Tony said. 

The screen paused and everyone started to read. "I love Lucy. Moon landing. Berlin wall, up and down. Steve Jobs. Disco. Thai food." Bruce started listing off. 

"Really, you've never tried Thai food?" May asked.

"Star wars and Star trek. Nirvana. And Rocky." Bruce read.

"Pretty interesting list you've got there." Natasha said. 

**Steve's phone rings, he takes it out to look at the message. 'Mission alert: Extraction imminent. Meet at the curb. :)' It reads. "Alright, Sam, duty calls. Thanks for the run. If that's what you wanna call running."**

Sam scoffed. 

**"Oh, that's how it is?" Sam asks.**

**"Oh, that's how it is."**

**"Okay."**

**"Okay. Any time you wanna stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know."**

"I will note that." Steve said.

**"I'll keep that in mind." Steve says.**

**Natasha pulls up in a black car.**

"That is a sweet ass car." Clint and Tony both said. 

**"Hey, fellas. Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."**

Natasha smirked.

"Haha very funny." Steve said.

**Steve walks up to the car. "That's hilarious."**

"No offence, Steve. But that was a pretty good line." Bucky said.

**"How you doing?" Sam asks.**

**"Hey." Natasha says.**

**"Can't run everywhere." Steve says.**

"No, but I'm sure if you could, you would." Sam said.

**"No you can't." Sam agrees.**

**Steve rolls the window back up, he and Natasha leave.**

"So along with great entrances, you also have great exits. Good to know." Quill said.

 **'Indian ocean. Lat: 16N 55' 12.06" Long: 72N 56' 7.09"' Appears on the screen.**

"What's going on there?" Maria asked herself.

**"The target is a mobile satellite launch platform: The Lemurian Star. They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago." Rumlow said.**

"Wait. Who's he?" Steve asked.

"Oh, that's Brock Rumlow, he's the leader of the strike team." Maria answered.

**"Any demands?" Steve asks.**

**"A billion and a half."**

A few people hissed in a breath. That's steep.

**"Why so steep?"**

**"Because it SHIELD's."**

"That makes sense, I guess." Steve said.

**"So it's not off-course, it's trespassing."**

**"I'm sure they have a good reason." Natasha said.**

"Always do." Natasha added to her onscreen self's statement.

**"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor."**

"Janitor?" Fury asked. "Someone's in trouble." Clint whispered to Natasha. 

**"Relax, it's not that complicated."**

"I don't think that's what I meant." Steve said.

**"How many pirates?"**

**"Twenty-five, top mercs, led by this guy. Georges Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties." Rumlow said.**

"Sounds like a fun guy." Tony said.

**"Hostages?"**

**"Uh...mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell. They're in the galley."**

"Agent Sitwell?" All of the SHIELD agents questioned. How the hell did he get caught?

**"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve asks.**

"Well, I guess we'll find out won't we." Steve answered his own question.

**"Alright, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you'll kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get 'em out. Let's move."**

**"STRIKE, you heard the Cap. Gear up."**

"This is gonna get interesting." Rocket said.

**"Secure channel seven." Steve says into a comm.**

**"Seven secure. Did you do anything fun Saturday night?"**

**"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so... No, not really."**

"When did you get so damn sassy?" Tony asked.

"Since always, you just ain't known him long." Bucky said. 

**"Coming up by the drop zone, Cap." A pilot says over a radio.**

**"You know, if you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she'd probably say yes." Natasha says.**

"That's why I won't ask." Steve said. "And since when are you so interested in my love life?" 

**"That's why I don't ask."**

**"Too shy or too scared?"**

**"Too busy." Steve jumps out of the plane.**

"Was he wearing a parachute?" Peggy asked.

"No I don't think he was." Howard answered.

**"Was he wearing a parachute?" An agent asks.**

**"No he wasn't." Rumlow replies.**

"You don't need a parachute to go skydiving, you only need a parachute to go skydiving twice." Peter said.

**Steve lands in the water beside the ship. He climbs onto the ship. An man is walking past him. Steve chokes him out.**

"Okay then." Clint said.

**He quietly makes his way to 2 more men, using his shield to take them out. He finds 3 more, kicks one overboard and takes out the other 2.**

"Just casually kicks a man off of a ship, no big deal." Ned said.

**He starts running and punches an 8th man on his way. He finds 2 more, kicks 1 into a wall the other pulls a knife, Steve takes him out and uses the knife to stop the other man from pulling the fire alarm, then kicks him.**

"You didn't have to stab him. Like i get it, but it was unnecessary." Clint said.

**Steve runs up to another group of men. He hits 1 with his shield, kicks another and hits 2 more with his shield, throws his shield at another, twists another guy's arm, throws one to the ground, puts the shield to another's face then punches the shield.**

"Bad-ass." 

**One more man with a gun walks up to Steve. " _Don't move._ " Another one appears behind him. " _Don't move._ " **

**Rumlow, with a parachute, shoots them. "Thanks." Steve says.**

**"Yeah. You seemed pretty helpless without me."**

"Lying makes you go to hell." Shuri said.

"I'm sure I would be." Steve joked, in reference to what Rumlow said.

**More members of the strike team land, including Natasha. "What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you? She seems kind of nice." She says**

**"Secure the engine room, then find me a date."**

**"I'm multitasking." She jumps over the railing to the lower deck.**

"Why are you trying to find me a date?" Steve asked.

"You seem lonely." Natasha said.

**A group of SHIELD agents are tied up in the kitchen. " _I said to Batroc, if we want_ SHIELD _to pay, we have to start sending them bodies now!_ " **

**" _I have a bullet for someone_. You want a bullet in your head? *He kicks one of them* _Move that leg. Want a bullet in your head?"_**

"They're not all that threatening." Natasha said. Steve nodded in silent agreement.

**Steve jumps up the stairs and shoots something at the window. " _I do not like to wait. Call Durand. I want the ship ready to move when the ransom arrives._ " **

"So impatient." Natasha said.

**A man picks up the phone. " _Durand. Start the engine._ " **

**"Okay." Durand says from the other line.**

**Natasha is standing next to him. "Hey sailor." She says with a smile.**

"That's how you greet people before you kill them?" Maria asked.

**She kicks his knee and ties a rope around his neck, using it to help her travel down, shooting the other agents. 2 more are seen under the grates, she reaches her arms out from either side of a dead agent and shoots them.**

"Okay, then." 

**" _Shut up._ "**

**" _You want to be a hero, is that it? Well, I've waited long enough._ "**

"Again with the impatience." Natasha said, 

**He bangs on a door. " _Hey, look for Batroc. If I do not hear anything in two minutes, I'll start killing them!_ " **

**" _Okay. I'll find him!_ " A man says, He turns around and Rumlow shoots him. **

**" _Two minutes._ " **

"You two better get there quicker." Clint said.

"Shut up, Clint." Natasha whispered.

**3 strike agents use wires to scale down the ship. 2 others, including Rumlow are inside. 1 of them places a bomb on a locked door. Steve is behind a wall. " _Radio silence from SHIELD, Batroc._ " **

"This is getting intense." Bruce said quietly.

**"Targets acquired." A strike agent says.**

**"Strike in position." Rumlow commands.**

**"Natasha, what's your status?" Steve asks.**

"This'll be interesting." Steve said.

**Natasha drops down into a room and starts running toward a man. "Natasha status." Steve says.**

**"Hang on!" She electrocutes a man and takes out 2 more. "Engine room secure." She says. then picks up a metal bar and knocks a man across the head with it.**

"Brutal, I like it." Gamora said.

**" _Time is up_."**

**" _Who dies first?_ " **

**"Hey, _you! Get that one._ "**

**"On my mark. 3...2...1" Steve says.**

**The strike agents kill all of the guards. "I told you, SHIELD doesn't negotiate." Sitwell says.**

"Damn right, SHIELD doesn't negotiate." Fury agreed.

**" _Hello? Batroc, the line is dead. I lost contact with them_."**

"Because they're dead." Scott said.

**Steve throws his shield through the window.**

"Did anyone else flinch, or was that just me?" Peter asked.

**Steve climbs through the broken window. Batroc runs, Steve grabs his shield and chases him. Sitwell is following Rumlow. "Hostages en route to extraction. Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. Hostiles are still in play." Rumlow says.**

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Bruce said.

 **Steve is now outside again. "Natasha, Batroc's on the move. Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages... Natasha."**

"Oh no."

**Suddenly, Batroc attacks Steve, they start fighting. Steve uses his shield to knock him down, he gets back up, they continue. Steve knees him in the chest 3 times. " _I thought that you were more than just a shield._ " **

"Well, then. I guess we'll see about that." Steve said.

**Steve puts the shield on his back and takes the mask off.**

"You, my friend, have a very bad case of helmet hair." Sam said.

**" _Let's see_." Steve says. They continue their fight. Steve flips and kicks him in the head. **

"Finally." Scott said.

**He stands back up, Steve tackles him through the door. Steve finally knocks him out. "Well, this is awkward." Natasha said.**

**"What are you doing?"**

**"Backing up the hard drive. It's a good habit to get into."**

"That it is." Tony agreed.

"But obviously for different reasons." Natasha added.

"Why are you still there? Rumlow needed you." Steve asked.

**"Rumlow needed your help. What the hell are you doing here?" Steve asks.**

"Like I said, backing up the hard drive." Natasha said.

**Steve walks over to the computer. "You're saving SHIELD Intel."**

**"Whatever I can get my hands on."**

**"Our mission is to rescue hostages."**

**" No. That's your mission. *She pulls the flash drive out* And you've done it beautifully."**

"This is one of the many reasons I still don't trust shield." Tony said.

"I think we might be in agreement for once." Steve said. The rest of the avengers blinked in surprise, they can agree on something?

**"You just jeopardized this whole operation."**

**" I think that's overstating things." Batroc gets back up.**

"Oh come on!" Everyone yelled.

**He throws a grenade at them, Steve hits it out of the way, using his shield. He grabs Natasha and breaks through a window before it explodes. "Okay. That one's on me."**

"You think?" Steve asked.

**"You're damn right." Steve gets up and leaves.**

"Sorry." Natasha tried. 

**'The Triskelion. SHIELD Headquarters. Lat 38N 53' 33.78" Long: 77S 3' 38.91"' appears on the screen.**

"Nice." Rocket said.

**Steve barges into Fury's office.**

"Uh-oh." 

**"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" He asks.**

**" I didn't lie. Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours." Fury defends.**

**"Which you didn't feel obliged to share."**

"Technically, Rogers, I didn't have too." Fury said. 

**"I'm not obliged to do anything."**

**"Those hostages could've died, Nick."**

"Ooh, pulling out the first name, you're in trouble." Carol said.

**"I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen."**

"That's not how that works and you know it." Steve said.

**"Soldiers trust each other, that's what makes it an army. Not a bunch of guys running around and shooting guns."**

**"The last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye."**

Carol started snickering. "Don't you start." Fury warned.

"Maybe not now, they'll figure it out eventually, with or without you knowing." She said.

**"Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything."**

**"I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their owns."**

"Logic."

**"It's called compartmentalization. Nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all."**

**"Except you."**

**"You're wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that."**

"I'm sure you do." Steve said.

 **An elevator opens, Steve and Fury enter. "Captain Rogers does not have clearance for Project Insight." The computer says.**

"Wait, what's project insight?" Clint asked.

"Oh boy." Coulson muttered.

**"Director override, Fury, Nicholas J." Fury says.**

**"Confirmed."**

**"You know, they used to play music."**

"Really?" Natasha asked, incredulously. "That's how you choose to start a conversation?"

**"Yeah. My grandfather operated one of these things for forty years. My granddad worked in a nice building, he got good tips." Fury started.**

"Interesting."

**"He'd walk home every night, roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say "hi", people would say hi back. Time went on, neighborhood got rougher. He'd say 'Hi', they'd say, 'Keep on steppin'. Granddad got to grippin' that lunch bag a little tighter."**

"Interesting story. Why haven't I heard it?" Natasha jokingly asked.

**"Did he ever get mugged?"**

**"Every week some punk would say, 'What's in the bag?'**

**"What did he do?"**

**"He'd show 'em. Bunch of crumpled ones and loaded .22 Magnum."**

"Not what I was expecting, but it makes sense." Clint said.

**"Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much."**

"Not many people do anymore." Steve said.

**Steve looks out the elevator window and sees a bunch of heli-carriers.**

"That's project insight." Steve guessed.

"Indeed, it's been a work in progress for quite some time." Fury answered.

**"Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a .22. This is Project Insight. Three next generation Helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites."**

"How long did it take you do do all of this?" Steve asked.

"We planned to start it after New York." Fury answered.

**"Launched from the Lemurian Star." Steve says.**

**"Once we get them in the air they never need to come down. Continuous suborbital flight courtesy of our new repulsor engines."**

**"Stark?"**

**"Well, he had a few suggestions once he got an up close look at our old turbines."**

"Of course he did." Clint said. 

**"These new long range precision guns can eliminate a thousand hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole. We gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen."**

"Doesn't someone need to commit a crime first, in order to be punished for it?" Peggy asked.

"How can they possibly be a threat if they haven't done anything?" Steve asked.

**"I thought the punishment usually came after the crime."**

"That's because it does. Innocent before proven guilty, not the other way around." Steve added onto what his onscreen self said.

**"We can't afford to wait that long."**

**"Who's 'we'?"**

**"After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surge in threat analysis. For once we're way ahead of the curve."**

**"By holding a gun at everyone on Earth and calling it protection."**

"That is not what we're doing." Fury defended. 

Steve shook his head. He understood what they were trying to do, he really did. But this was not the best way to do that. According to this SHIELD believed everyone was a threat. This is not protection. 

"You're in on this." Steve said to Tony.

"Not yet, I'm not." Tony defended himself.

"Let's not argue right now. It is not the time." Natasha said. 

**"You know, I read those SSR files. Greatest generation? You guys did some nasty stuff."**

"Nothing compared to this." Steve, Peggy and Howard said.

**"Yeah, we compromised. Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so the people could be free. This isn't freedom, this is fear."**

Both Steve and Fury now thought it was best to keep their silence.

**"SHIELD takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. It's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap."**

**"Don't hold your breath." Steve leaves.**


	3. Fury gets attacked

**A group of people are checking out attractions in a museum. "Welcome to the Smithsonian." A woman says over the PA.**

Natasha smirked. "Ha ha." Sam laughed. Steve shook his head with a smile.

**"Visitor information booths are available on the second level."**

**"A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice." A narrator of a video says.**

**Steve is shown trying to be inconspicuous in a baseball cap.**

"Nice disguise." Bucky said.

**"Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first super soldier." A kid is staring.**

"That kid is creeping me out." Scott said.

**Steve smiles at the kid and holds his fingers to his lips, a sign for him not to say anything. The kid nods.**

"Reminds me of Coulson when he met you for the first time. Awestruck." Natasha said.

"I wasn't-" Coulson protests.

"You were." Natasha said.

**Steve watches some old recordings of himself. "In this rare footage, everyone's favorite war hero, Captain America. Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission, taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division."**

"Why do I feel like this is foreshadowing something?" Steve asked, now feeling uneasy.

"Its not just you." Natasha said.

**Steve walks up to a display of Bucky. "Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield."**

Steve and Bucky both smiled sadly, albeit for different reasons.

**"Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country.**

"Except he didn't... technically." Peter said.

**Steve looks at a screen. 'Peggy Carter. New York 1953.' "That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line. Steve- Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months." Steve takes out his compass.**

"You still have that?" Peggy asked.

"Of course." Steve said.

**He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would...who would become my husband as it turned out. Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life."**

"You're married?" Steve asked, not jealous, or hurt, just curious.

"I- I am." Peggy breathed.

"Good.. I-I'm happy for you." Steve said.

"This is awkward." Sam said to Howard, who nodded.

**Steve is by Peggy's bedside, talking to her. "You should be proud of yourself, Peggy."**

Peggy blinked. "I'm still alive at... I suppose I would be 93?" Peggy asked.

**He looks at a picture of her family, she follows his gaze. "Mm. I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours." Peggy says.**

Steve looked down, sadly. He may not have gotten to live the life he wanted, but he gets to live a different one and he supposes that's good too.

**"What is it?" She asks.**

**"For as long as I can remember I just wanted to do what was right. I guess I'm not quite sure what that is anymore. And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders, serve. It's just not the same."**

**"You're always so dramatic."**

Steve smiled. "She's right you know. Very dramatic." Bucky said.

**"Look, you saved the world. We rather...mucked it up."**

"You know that's not true." Steve protested.

**"You didn't. Knowing that you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I stay."**

"You also founded SHIELD?" Tony asked.

"I did, yes." Peggy answered.

**"Hey. The world has changed and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best that we can do is to start over."**

"You are a very wise woman, Agent Carter." Sam said.

**She starts coughing. Steve gets a glass of water. "Peggy." He says.**

**She looks at him wide eyed, like it was her first time seeing him. "Steve?" She asks, softly.**

**"Yeah?"**

**"You're alive! You...you came, you came back."**

Peggy and Steve now both looked very confused, with tears in their eyes. Why did she look at him like she hasn't seen him in 70 years? What was happening to her?

**"Yeah, Peggy." Peggy starts to cry.**

**"It's been so long. So long."**

**"Well, I couldn't leave my best girl. Not when she owes me a dance."**

Steve and Peggy tried to smile, but found that they couldn't. Too overwhelmed with confusion and sadness.

**Fury is in his office. "Secure office." He commands. The windows go black. He plugs a flash drive in. "Open Lemurian Star's satellite launch file."**

**"Access denied."**

Fury blinked. What?

**"Run decryption."**

**"Decryption failed.** **"**

**"Director override, Fury, Nicholas J."**

**"Override denied. All files sealed."**

**"On whose authority?"**

**" Fury, Nicholas J."**

Fury looked up in realization. The goddamn world security council.

**Fury steps into the elevator. "World Security Council."**

**"Confirmed."**

"Son of a bitch." Fury said.

**"If Nick Fury thinks he can get his costumed thugs and STRIKE commandos to mop-up his mess, he's sadly mistaken. This failure is unacceptable." Rockwell says.**

The avengers looked offended at being called 'costumes thugs.'

**"Well, considering this attack took place one mile from my country's sovereign waters, it's a bit more then that. I move for immediate hearing." Singh says.**

"You would, wouldn't you?" Natasha said.

**"We don't need hearings, we need action. It's this Council's duty to oversee SHIELD." Hawley says.**

**"A breach like this raises serious questions."**

**"Like how the hell did a French pirate manage to hijack a covert SHIELD vessel in broad daylight?"**

"That's what I would like to know." Fury said, only thinking of the worse possible answers to that question.

**"For the record, councilman, he's Algerian. I can draw a map if it'll help." Pierce says.**

"Is he in on this?" Steve asked.

**"I appreciate your wit, Secretary Pierce. But this Council take things like international piracy fairly seriously." Rockwell says.**

**"Really? I don't."**

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Natasha said.

"Yeah? Me too." Maria said.

**"I don't care about one boat, I care about the fleet. If this Council is going to fall a rancor every time someone pushes us on the playing field, maybe we need someone to oversee us."**

"I don't trust this guy." Steve said.

**"Mr. Secretary, nobody is suggesting-" Yen says.**

**Pierce's assistant walks in and whispers something to Pierce. "Excuse me." He says and turns to leave.**

**"More trouble, Mr. Secretary?"**

**"It depends on your definition."**

"I'd say it is trouble." Clint said.

**"I work forty floors away and it takes a hijacking for you to visit?" He asks Fury.**

**"A nuclear war would do it too." They shake hands.**

"I should hope so." Steve said.

**"Busy in there?"**

**"Nothing some earmarks can't fix."**

**"I'm, uh...here to ask a favor. I want you to call for a vote. Project insight has to be delayed."**

"I think that constitutes as a little more than just a favor." Natasha said.

**"Nick, that's not a favor, that's a subcommittee hearing. A long one."**

**"It could be nothing, probably is nothing. I just need time to make sure it's nothing."**

"I don't think it's nothing." Steve said.

**"What if it's something?"**

**"Then we'll both be damn glad those Helicarriers aren't in the air."**

**"Fine. But you gotta get Iron Man to stop by my niece's birthday party."**

"I'm sorry, what?" Tony asked.

**"Thank you, sir."**

**"And not just a flyby, he's got to mingle."**

The avengers, and SHIELD agents all started laughing.

"Please don't drag me into any more of you're negotiations." Tony sighed.

**Sam is counseling some veterans. Steve enters the room. "The thing is I think it's getting worse. A cop pulled me over last week, he thought I was drunk. I swerved to miss a plastic bag. I thought it was an IED." Garcia says.**

The military personnel(Steve, Bucky, Carol and Rhodey) in the room looked at the screen in sympathy.

**"Some stuff you leave there, other stuff you bring back. It's our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase or in a little man-purse? It's up to you." Sam said.**

"You're a therapist?" Steve asked.

"Counselor." Sam corrected.

**Sam walks up to Steve after the meeting was over. "Look who it is. The running man."**

Sam and Natasha laughed.

**"Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense." Steve said.**

**"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret." Sam said.**

"Amen to that." Carol said.

**"You lose someone." "My wingman, Riley. Flying a night mission. Standard PJ rescue op, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before, till RPG knock Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch."**

**"I'm sorry."**

"I'm sorry." Almost everyone in the room said, softly.

**"After that, I had really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?"**

**"But you're happy now, back in the world?"**

**"Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell, yeah. You thinking about getting out?"**

"What would I do if I did?" Steve asked.

**"No. I don't know. To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did."**

**"Ultimate fighting."**

"I can picture it now. You in your Captain America suit wrestling with some random person." Clint laughed. Steve sighed.

**" It's just a great idea off the top of my head. But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?"**

**"I don't know."**

"Maybe you should figure that out then." Sam said.

**Fury is driving. "Activating communications encryption protocol." A computer voice says.**

**"Open secure line 0405."**

**"Confirmed."**

**"This is Hill." Maria says.**

**"I need you here in D.C. Deep shadow conditions."**

**"Give me four hours."**

**"You have three, over."**

"Some serious shit is about to go down, I can feel it." Tony said.

**Fury pulls up to a stop light, a police car pulls up next to him. He looks over. "Want to see my lease?" The police car's siren sounds once, they start driving, Fury follows, but another police car crashes into him.**

"Holy shit!" Everyone yelled.

**Another car backs into his front end. Now police cars surround Fury's. "Fracture detected. Recommend anesthetic injection." The computer voice says. Fury tries to reach into his glove box.**

"Someone's trying to kill you." Natasha observed.

"The question is: Who?" Fury asked.

**A SWAT car pulls up to the scene and 2 armed officers get out. Fury gives himself the injection. "D.C. Metro Police dispatch shows no units in this area."**

"That's odd."

**Every officer now has a gun pointed at Fury. "Get me out of here!" Fury commands. The officers start shooting.**

"This is bad. This is very very bad." Clint said. Everyone silently agreed with him.

**"Propulsion systems offline."**

**"Then reboot, dammit!" The SWAT officers pull out a battering ram and put it in front of the driver's side window.**

**"Warning! Window integrity compromised."**

"Thank you, captain obvious." Fury said.

**"You think? How long to propulsion?" Fury asks after he's moved further away from the window**

**"Calculating."**

"Can you calculate any faster?" Shuri asked.

**The officers shove the battering ram at Fury's car. "Window Integrity 31%. Deploying countermeasures."**

**" Hold that order!"** **They use the battering ram again.**

"What the hell are you thinking? They're going to kill you!" Maria yelled.

**"Window Integrity 19%. Offensive measures advised."**

**"Wait!" They use the battering ram again.**

**"Window Integrity 1%"**

**"Now!" A machine gun emerges from the center console. Fury kills the officers with it. Then blows up the Swat van.**

"That's useful." Howard remarked.

**"Propulsion systems now online."**

**" Full acceleration, now!" The car backs up and drives off.** **"Initiate vertical takeoff!"**

**"Flight systems damaged."**

**" Then activate guidance cameras! Give me the wheel!" He gets back into the drivers seat. The officers are still following.**

"They're still going." Natasha said, now getting worried.

**"Get me Agent Hill."**

**"Communications array damaged."**

**"Well, what's not damaged?"**

**"Air conditioning is fully operational."**

"Not helpful." Fury said, un-amused.

"Why are AI's never helpful when we need them to be?" Rhodey asked.

**"Traffic ahead."**

**"Give me an alternate route."**

**"Traffic alert on Roosevelt Bridge. All vehicles stopped. 17th Avenue clear in three blocks, directly ahead." Fury crashes into some cars, using them as a blockade to stop the police cars.**

"How far are they willing to go to kill one man?" Steve asked.

**The officers get out of their cars and start shooting at Fury once more. Another cop car tries to drive through the blockade.**

"They just don't know when to quit, do they?" Clint asked.

**Officers make their way to Fury, who starts driving again, an officer shooting at him. He throws his car in reverse, killing one of them. He drives forward, killing another.**

"This is getting too out of hand." Maria said.

**He drives off, 2 cop cars still chasing him. One pulls out a gun and starts shooting again. Fury slams into the side of the car. The other car slams into the side of Fury.**

"He's boxed in." Steve said.

**Fury is wrestling for the officer's gun. He punches him in the face. "Warning, approaching intersection." Fury slams on the breaks. The other 2 cars continue driving. A semi truck crashes into them.**

Steve, Maria, Natasha, Clint and Fury all sighed in relief, but it wasn't over yet.

**"Get me off the grid!"**

**"Calculating route to secure location." The winter soldier is standing in the middle of the road.**

Bucky quickly looked away from the screen.

**He shoots a bomb that attached itself to the underside of the car, it blows up and the winter soldier steps out of the way to avoid the explosion. The winter soldier walks up to Fury, who activates a weapon. The winter soldier rips the door off of the car.**

"Holy shit."

**The winter soldier looks inside the car to find that a hole has been burned through and Fury is no longer inside.**

"Fury!" The avengers, carol and the SHIELD agents yelled.

"Does anyone have a guess as to who that was?" Natasha asked. Everyone shook their heads. Except Bucky, but no one noticed. "Well, shit." Clint said.

**Steve is walking up the stairs inside of his apartment building. "That's so sweet. That is so nice. Hey. I gotta go, though. Okay, bye." Sharon says over the phone. She turns to Steve. "My aunt, she's kind of an insomniac."**

Peggy's eyes widened. Was that Sharon? She's all grown up now. Peggy smiled.

**"Hey, if you want...if you want, you're welcome to use my machine. Might be cheaper than the one in the basement." Steve offers.**

**"Oh, yeah? What's it cost?"**

**"A cup of coffee?"**

Natasha smirked. "Was this the neighbor you were talking about?" Pepper asked her. Natasha nodded.

**"Thank you, but um...I already have a load in downstairs, and, uh...you really don't want my scrubs in your machine. I'm just finished orientation in the infectious diseases ward, so."**

**"Ah, well, I'll keep my distance."**

**"Well hopefully not too far."**

"She's flirting with you." Natasha practically sings.

**"Oh, and I think you left your stereo on." Steve turns around.**

**"Oh. Right. Thank you."**

**"Yeah." Steve looks suspiciously at his door.**

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you never left your stereo on." Sam said.

**Steve gets into his apartment and sees Fury lying on his chair.**

"Oh good. You're not dead." Natasha said.

**"I don't remember giving you a key." Steve says.**

**"You really think I'd need one? My wife kicked me out."**

"You're married!?" Everyone shouted.

Fury nodded. "Wait wait wait. So you're telling me that there is someone out there named Mrs. Fury?" Tony asked.

**"Didn't know you were married."**

**"A lot of things you don't about me."**

**"I know, Nick. That's the problem." Steve turns the light on.**

"Still bitter, I see." Natasha said.

**Fury turns the light back off and types something on the screen. 'Ears everywhere.'** **"I'm sorry to have to do this, but I had no place else to crash." He writes something else. 'SHIELD compromised.'**

"You can't trust anybody." Coulson said.

**"Who else knows about your wife?" Fury shows another text. 'you and me.'**

**"Just my friends."**

**"Is that what we are?"**

**"That's up to you." Someone shoots Fury through the wall.**

Everyone flinched, not expecting that.

**Steve looks out the window for the shooter, then drags Fury into another room. Fury hands him a flash drive. "Don't...trust anyone." He says then his eyes close.**

"I swear to god if you're dead again-" Maria warned.

**The door busts open. "Captain Rogers? Captain, I'm Agent 13 of SHIELD Special Service."**

**"Kate?"**

"Not Kate." Peggy said, with a smirk.

**"I'm assigned to protect you."**

**"On whose order?"**

**Sharon looks down at an injured Fury. "His." She drops down next to Fury and feels for a pulse. She pulls out a radio. "Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive. I need EMTs."**

"Foxtrot?"

**"Do you have a twenty on the shooter?" An agent asks. Steve looks out the window and sees the shooter.**

**"Tell him I'm in pursuit." Steve says and jumps out his window and crashes into the window of another building.**

"How-" Scott goes to ask but stops himself.

**He starts running through the hallways of the building to catch the shooter on the other side. He jumps through the window and lands on the roof of another building. He throws his shield at the shooter, who catches it and turns around.**

"Is that a metal arm?" Peter asked, recognizing the same metal arm from the fight in the airport.

**Revealing himself to be the winter soldier. He throws the shield back at Steve and makes his escape. Steve runs to the side of the roof only to realize that the winter soldier is gone.**   
  



	4. Elevator Fight

**Natasha rushes into the hospital and finds Steve, who's looking over Fury, who's in surgery. "Is he gonna make it?" She asks.**

**"I don't know."**

"You better not die." Natasha said. 

**"Tell me about the shooter."**

**"He's fast. Strong. Had a metal arm." Maria joins them.**

**Natasha swallows. "Ballistics?"**

**"Three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable." Maria says.**

**"Soviet-made." Natasha says.**

**"Yeah."**

"Connecting the dots." Clint said.

"We're still missing dots." Natasha countered.

**Surgeons start rushing around Fury's room. "He's in V-tach."**

**"Crash cart coming in."**

**"Nurse, help me with the drape."**

**"BP is dropping."**

**"Defibrillator! I want you to charge him at one hundred." Natasha and Maria watch.**

**"Don't do this to me, Nick." Natasha says.**

Clint, sensing that something was wrong, put his arm around Natasha to comfort her.

**"Stand back! Three, two, one. Clear! *He shocks Fury* Pulse?"**

**"No pulse."**

**"No pulse."**

"You're dying." Maria whispered. 

**"Okay. 200, please. Stand back! Three, two, one. Clear!* He shocks Fury again* Give me epinephrine! Pulse?"**

**"Negative."**

**"Don't do this to me, Nick. Don't do this to me." Natasha repeats. Steve walks away from the window.**

**"What's the time?"**

**"1:03, Doctor."**

**"Time of death, 1:03 a.m."**

All of the avengers and SHIELD agents had tears in their eyes. Their leader, their... friend was dead. What were they supposed to do? After a moment Bruce spoke.

"Should up *He cleared his throat* Should we continue?" He asked. They nodded mutely. 

**Natasha and Steve are looking at Fury's body. Maria walks in "I need to take him." She says.**

**Steve walks up to Natasha. "Natasha." Natasha leaves. "Natasha." He says louder and follows her out.**

**"Why was Fury in your apartment?"**

**"I don't know."**

"Don't lie to me." Natasha said.

"He told me not to trust anyone." Steve defended.

"And somehow that includes me?" Of course she already knew why He was there, they all did, but it still hurt that Steve didn't trust her enough to tell her the truth.

"It includes everyone!" Steve said.

**Rumlow walks up to them. "Cap, they want you back at SHIELD." He says.**

**"Yeah, give me a second."**

**"They want you now."**

**" Okay." He turns to Natasha.**

**"You're a terrible liar." She says and walks off.**

"The worst." Off-screen Natasha added.

**"STRIKE team, escort Captain Rogers back to SHIELD immediately for questioning." Sitwell says through an earpiece.**

"Questioning?" Steve asked. 

**"I told him." Rumlow says.**

**Steve walks up to Rumlow. "Let's go." He says.**

**"Yeah. Strike, move it. out." The vending machine is shown. Steve has hidden the flash drive behind some gum.**

"Smart." Natasha said. "Dangerous, though."

"Yeah, well I have a feeling I can't exactly walk back into SHIELD headquarters with that in my hand." Steve said.

**Pierce is talking to Sharon. Steve walks up to them. "Captain Rogers." She greets.**

**"Neighbor."**

"Don't trust her now either?" Peggy asked.

**"Ah, Captain. I'm Alexander Pierce."**

**"Sir, it's an honor."**

**"The honor is mine, Captain. My father served in the 101st. Come on in." They walk into pierce's office. He shows Steve a photo of himself and Fury.**

Tony gasped. "I never thought I'd see you with two eyes."

**"That photo was taken 5 years after Nick and I met. When I was at State Department in Bogota. ELN rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages.**

"Oh-no."

**"Nick was deputy chief for the SHIELD station there. And he comes to me with a plan. He wants to storm the building through the sewers."**

"Little overzealous, don't you think?" Maria asked.

"It got the job done just fine." Fury said.

**"I said, 'No, we'll negotiate.'"**

"They don't seem like the negotiation type to me." Clint said.

**"Turned out the ELN didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order. They stormed the basement, and what did they find? They find it empty."**

Coulson smirked already knowing that it was Fury that did that, having heard the story before.

**"Nick had ignored my direct order and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil. He saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter."**

**"So you gave him a promotion."**

"That's how you became director?" Maria asked.

**"I've never had any cause to regret it. Captain, why was Nick in your apartment last night?"**

"I'm gonna get asked that a lot aren't I?" Steve asked.

**"I don't know."**

**"You know it was bugged?"**

**"I did, because Nick told me."**

**"Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?"**

"No he did not." Steve said slowly. Silently questioning Pierce. He didn't trust Pierce form the start and now he was having a hard time trusting Fury. 

**"I want you to see something." He pulls up footage of Batroc.**

**"Who hired you, Batroc?" A SHIELD interrogator asks.**

**"Is that live?" Steve asks.**

**"Yeah, they picked him up last night in a not-so-safe house in Algiers."**

"He thinks that Batroc did it." Steve said. 

**"Are you saying he's a suspect? Assassination isn't Batroc's line."**

"Its more than that." Natasha said.

**"No, it's more complicated than that. Batroc was hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star and he was contacted by e-mail and paid by wire transfer. And then the money was run through seventeen fictitious accounts."**

"A little overkill, don't you think?" Scott asked. 

**"The last one going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech." He hands Steve a file.**

**"Am I supposed to know who that is?"**

**"Not likely. Veech died six years ago. His last address was 14-35 Elmhurst Drive. When I first met Nick his mother lived at 14-37."**

Natasha's eyes widened. "You hired the pirates. That's his theory." She said to Fury.

**"Are you saying Fury hired the pirates? Why?"**

**"The prevailing theory was that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence. The sale went sour and that led to Nick's death."**

"That can't be true." Steve denied. "Can it?"

**"If you really knew Nick Fury you'd know that's not true."**

**"Why do you think we're talking?"**

"So you can get me out of the way of whatever it is you're planning." Steve said, suspicious.

**"See, I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to but because Nick asked me to, because we were both realists."**

"You wanted him on the council?" Steve asked.

"I did." Fury answered.

**"We knew that despite all the diplomacy and the handshaking and the rhetoric, that to build a really better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down.** **And that makes enemies."**

"I can't shake the feeling. I still don't trust him." Steve said.

**Those people that call you dirty because you got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today, makes me really, really angry."**

"People tend to be comfortable when they don't have to change anything." MJ said.

**"Captain, you were the last one to see Nick alive. I don't think that's an accident, and I don't think you do either. So I'm gonna ask again, why was he there?"**

**"He told me not to trust anyone."**

**"I wonder if that included him."**

"It included anyone who it needed to, not only who it implied." Fury said.

**"I'm sorry. Those were his last words. Excuse me." Steve grabs his shield and puts it on his back.**

**"Captain. Somebody murdered my friend and I'm gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it. Anyone."**

**"Understood."**

"He threatening you." Natasha said.

"Yeah, I think I got that." Steve said.

**Steve gets into the elevator. "Operations control." He says.**

**"Confirmed." The computer voice says.**

**Rumlow and some strike agents enter. "Keep all STRIKE personnel on site." Rumlow says.**

**"Understood."**

**"Yes, sir."**

**"Forensics."**

**"Confirmed."**

**"Cap."**

**"Rumlow."**

"Something's gonna happen." Clint said.

 **"Evidence Response found some fibers on the roof they want us to see. You want me to get the tac-team ready?" Rumlow asks.**

**"No, lets wait and see what it is first."**

"Best not to jump the gun." Sam said.

**"Right." Steve sees that one of the agents is ready to draw a weapon.**

"They're making it so obvious." Natasha said.

**The elevator stops, more agents enter. "What's the status so far?"**

**"Administrations level."**

**"Confirmed." The computer says.**

**"Excuse me."**

**"I'm sorry about what happened with Fury. Messed up, what happened to him." Rumlow says.**

**"Thank you"**

"Something's off, with every other person in that elevator." Steve noticed. 

**The elevator stops again. More agents enter. "Records."**

**"Confirmed."**

"There's too many people in that elevator." Peter said.

**"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?" Steve asks.**

"Here we go." Clint said.

**One of the agents pulls a weapon. A group pin Steve to the wall. One hits the emergency stop button on the elevator. Steve tries to break from the magnetic cuff. It gets thrown to the wall. He starts kicking the agents away. Another magnetic cuff gets thrown at him. Rumlow attacks.**

"Okay, so we know that they're essentially traitors, but who are they working for?" Natasha asked. 

**Rumlow electrocutes him. Another agent punches him. Sitwell is shown watching. " Mobilize STRIKE units, 25th floor." He says. Steve kicks the agents away from him and uses his feet as leverage to get the cuff off. He knocks out another agent, leaving Rumlow left.**

"Let's to this." Steve said.

 **"Whoa, big guy. I just want you to know, Cap, this ain't personal!" He says. He electrocutes Steve again. Steve picks him up and throws him up to the ceiling, Rumlow falls to the floor.**

"Haha nice, running man." Sam said.

"It kind of feels personal." Steve says, picks up his shield and disables the emergency stop.

"I think it is personal." Maria said.

**The elevator doors open and the strike agents all have guns pointed at him. "Drop the shield! Put your hands in the air!" One of them says.**

"Not today." Steve said.

**Steve uses his shield to send the elevator down. He opens the doors and sees a group running toward him, he closes the doors. "Give it up, Rogers! Get that door open! You have nowhere to go!" An agent says. Steve jumps through the window.**

"You are so reckless, you know that." Clint said.

**Steve stands up and starts running. "Are you kidding me?" Sitwell asks.**

**"He's headed for the garage. Lock down the bridge!" The doors start closing, Steve, on his motorcycle, makes it through just before they do.**

"Haha nice." Tony said.

 **A plane flies over him. "Stand down, Captain Rogers. Stand down." The plane draws a gun. "Repeat, stand down."**

"Telling me to stand down isn't going to make me stand down." Steve said. "No matter how many times you repeat it."

**Steve doesn't stop, they start shooting. Steve throws his shield, disabling one of the wings. He jumps up to get it back, then uses it to disable the engine. The plane crashes.**

"Well then." Steve breathed.

**Sitwell is talking to a group of agents. "Eyes here. Whatever your op is, bury it. This is Level One. Contact DOT. All traffic lights in the district go red. Shut all runways at BWI, IAD and Reagan. All security cameras in the city go through this monitor, right here."**

The SHIELD agents glared at Sitwell.

**"Scan all open sources. Phones, computers, PDAs, whatever. If someone tweets about this guy, I want to know about it."**

"Who are you working for?" Natasha asked, quietly.

**"With all due respect, If SHIELD is conducting a manhunt for Captain America, we deserve to know why." Sharon says.**

"Because SHIELD is infiltrated and they don't want me trying to ruin their plans." Steve said.

**"Because he lied to us. Captain Rogers has information regarding the death of Director Fury, he refused to share it. As difficult as this is to accept, Captain America is a fugitive from SHIELD." Pierce says.**

"Because you lied to them." Fury snorted.

**Steve, dressed in sweats, walks up to the vending machine that he put the hard drive in, only to notice that its not there.**

"Shit."

**Natasha appears behind him. She blows a bubble in his ear.**

"You have it." Steve said. "Probably yeah." Natasha said.

**Steve pushes her into a wall. "Where is it?" He asks.**

**"Safe."**

**"Do better!"**

**" Where did you get it?"**

"Fury gave it to you." Natasha says with faux happiness.

**"Why would I tell you?"**

**"Why would I tell you?"**

**"What's on it?"**

**"I don't know."**

"Yes you do." Steve protested.

**"Stop lying!"**

**" I only act like I know everything, Rogers."**

"Well then. You're a convincing actress." Steve said.

**"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"**

**" Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you."**

**"I'm not gonna ask you again."**

**" I know who killed Fury."**

"You do?" Clint asked.

"Apparently. But as of right now I only have an idea... it might not even be true." Natasha said.

**"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists, the ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."**

"That cant be possible, can it?" Steve asked.

**"So he's a ghost story."**

"He is very much real, Steve." Natasha said.

"I have the scar to prove it." She added, remembering her encounter with him.

**"Five years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran, somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff, I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me."**

"Wow."

**She lifts her shirt to show a scar a few inches above her waist. "Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye-bye bikinis."**

**"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now."**

"Thanks." Natasha said in mock offence.

**"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried. *She gives him the flash drive* Like you said, he's a ghost story."**

**"Well, let's find out what the ghost wants."**

"Nothing good, I'm sure." Sam said. Bucky cringed faintly.

**Pierce is talking to the world security council. "Nick Fury was murdered in cold blood. To any reasonable person, that would make him a martyr, not a traitor." He says.**

**"You know what makes him a traitor? Hiring a mercenary to hijack his own ship." Rockwell says.**

"If you understood the logic behind that decision, I'm sure you wouldn't be saying that." Natasha said.

"Didn't anyone ever teach them not to speak ill of the deceased?" Thor questioned.

**"Nick Fury used your friendship to coerce this council into delaying Project Insight. A project he knew would expose his own illegal operations. At best, he lied to you. At worst..." Singh says.**

**"Are you calling for my resignation? I've got a pen and paper right here." Pierce says.**

"I for one, would like you to resign." Tony said.

**"That discussion can be tabled for a later time." Hawley says.**

**"But you do want to have a discussion."**

**"We've already had it, Mr. Secretary. This council moves to immediately reactivate Project Insight. If you want to say something snappy, now would be a good time."**

"That is a terrible idea." Fury said. Then mumbled something barely intelligible about the council being a bunch of idiots.

**Steve and Natasha are at a mall. "First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk." She says.**

**"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off."**

"Good, you wont run." Natasha said.

**They use a mac stores computers to look at what's on the flash drive. "The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are."**

**"How much time do we have?"**

"Is doing that in public really the best idea?" Ned asked. We are running very low on options." Natasha said.

**"Uh...about nine minutes from...*She inserts the drive* Now." SHIELD vehicles are heading their way.**

"Might want to hurry up." Clint said.

**"Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."**

**"Can you override it?"**

**"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly."**

"So humble." Clint joked. 

**Rumlow and the strike team get out of their cars. "I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."**

"Good idea." Shuri said.

**"Can I help you guys with anything?" An employee asks. "Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations."**

"Nice save." Coulson whispered.

**"Right! We're getting married." Steve says.**

"You should stop talking, you're terrible at this." Natasha said.

**"Congratulations. Where do you guys thinking about going?"**

**Steve looks at the screen, the signal was traced to New Jersey. "New Jersey."**

"People don't even want to live there, why would you want to honeymoon there?" May asked. She was right, you are terrible at this." Maria said.

**"Oh." The guy looks closer at them. "I have the exact same glasses."**

**"Wow, you two are practically twins." Natasha says**.

Steve laughed.

**"Yeah, I wish. Specimen. Uh...if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron."**

**They guy, Aaron, leaves. "Thank you."**

**The strike team is now in the mall.**

"You're running out of time." Pepper said.

**"You said nine minutes, come on." Steve says.**

**"Shh, relax. Got it. *Signal is coming from Wheaton, NJ* You know it?"**

**"I used to. Let's go."**

"Used to?"

**Steve pulls the flash drive out and they leave. "Standard tac-team. Two behind, to across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro."**

**"Shut up and put your arm around me, laugh at something I said."**

**"What?"**

"Thank god you're not an actor." Natasha said.

**"Do it." She whispered. Steve complies.**

"The most awkward laugh ever." Peter said.

**The agents are looking around the apple store. "Negative at the source." Rollins says.**

**"Give me a floor rundown." Rumlow says.**

**"Negative on three."**

**"Negative on two."**

**"Snake the upper levels, work down to me." He gets onto an escalator.**

"Should he be talking that loud?" Scott asked.

"No. He should not." Coulson answered.

**Steve and Natasha, on the other escalator, see him. "Kiss me." Natasha says.**

**"What?"**

**"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."**

**"Yes, they do." Natasha kisses him, Rumlow looks away.**

**"You still uncomfortable?"**

**"It's not exactly the word I would use."**

"Gross."


	5. HYDRA is an infection in SHIELD

**Steve and Natasha are in a car. "Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asks.**

**"Nazi, Germany."**

**"Mm."**

"Makes sense." Quill said.

**"And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash." Natasha complies.**

**"Alright, I have a question for you, oh, which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know?"**

**"What?"**

"Don't sound so annoyed." Natasha joked.

**"Was that your first kiss since 1945?"**

Steve's face went blank.

Sam noticed and laughed. "It was wasn't it?" He asked.

**"That bad, huh?"**

**"I didn't say that."**

"No, but it was implied." Steve said.

**"Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying."**

**"No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had."**

**"You don't need practice."**

"Yes you do, considering you've only kissed two people since 45." Howard said.

**"Everybody needs practice."**

**"It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm ninety-five, I'm not dead."**

"You look good for 95, though." Maria said.

**"Nobody special, though?"**

**"Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience."**

"Oh, we believe it." Tony said.

**"Well, that's alright, you just make something up."**

**"What, like you?"**

**"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I."**

**"That's a tough way to live."**

"But it is a good way to not die." Natasha countered.

**"It's a good way not to die, though."**

**"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone really is."**

"Well, he's not wrong." Gamora said.

**"Yeah. Who do you want me to be?"**

**"How about a friend?"**

**"Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers."**

"I'm willing to take that risk." Steve said.

**They pull up outside of an old, abandoned military base. "This is it." Steve says after they get out of the truck.**

**"The file came from these coordinates."**

**"So did I." Steve says once he sees the sign.**

"This is where I was... trained." Steve said. 

**It is now nighttime and they're still walking around. "This camp is where I was trained."**

**"Changed much?"**

**"A little."**

"A lot." Steve said.

**Steve sees a vision of his past self, training with other soldiers. "Pick up the pace, ladies! Let's go! Let's go! Double time! Come on Rogers, move it! *Steve's past self is lagging behind* Come on! Fall in! Rogers! I said fall in!"**

Steve smiled sadly, remembering that day.

"Ah, nostalgia." Sam said.

**"This is a dead end. Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off." Steve sees another building.**

**"What is it?" She asks.**

"That building shouldn't be there." Steve said.

**"Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place."**

"Smart, I don't think anyone else would have picked up on that." Rhodey said.

**Steve busts the lock with his shield. He and Natasha enter, he turns a light on. "This is SHIELD."**

"Where it started." Peggy said.

**"Maybe where it started." Steve says, they enter another room.**

**There are framed pictures of Phillips, Howard and Peggy. "There's Stark's father." Natasha says.**

**"Howard."**

**"Who's the girl?"**

"Hello, I'm agent Carter, pleased to meet you." Peggy said.

**Steve walks further into the room. "If you're already working in a secret office*He moves the bookshelf* Why do you need to hide the elevator?"**

"They, whoever led us there, has something to hide. Something big." Steve said.

**Natasha holds out her phone and it shows her the code to get in. They get in the elevator to go down. They walk into the room and the lights turn on. The room is filled with old technology.**

"What the hell is going on here?" Natasha asked.

**"This can't be the data-point, this technology is ancient." She sees a modern looking USB port on the table.**

"Weirder and weirder." Steve said.

**She plugs the shield flash drive in and everything powers up. "Initiate system?" A computer voice says. Natasha types 'Yes'.**

**"Y-E-S, spells yes."**

"Indeed it does." Clint said.

**"Shall we play a game? It's from a movie that..."**

"A great movie." Peter said. Don't judge him, he has a knack for 80s movies.

**"Yeah, I saw it." A grainy picture of Dr Zola appears on the computer screen.**

**"Rogers, Steven. Born, 1918. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born, 1984."**

"This must be some kind of recording." Natasha said, wondering how in the world it knew her real name.

"I don't think it is." Steve said.

**"It's some kind of a recording." Natasha says.**

**"I am not a recording, Fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am." A picture of Dr. Zola appears on a smaller computer screen.**

"No." Steve breathed. 

**"Do you know this thing?"**

**"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years."**

"Well apparently he isn't." Natasha said. "And whatever it is he's up to can't be any good."

**"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on 200,000 ft of data banks. You are standing in my brain."**

"And here I thought that this couldn't get any creepier." Clint said.

**"How did you get here?" Steve asks.**

**"Invited."**

**"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value." Natasha says.**

"That wasn't a good idea." Steve said. "We thought that they could be of help, especially after what Einstein did." Howard said.

**"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own."**

**"HYDRA died with the Red Skull."**

**"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."**

"So where's two more?" Steve asked.

**"Prove it." Images start appearing on smaller screens.**

**"Accessing archive. HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom."**

"That's one way of putting it." Steve said.

**"What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist."**

"O-obviously." Peter said.

**"The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly."**

"Good luck with that." Fury said.

**After the war, SHIELD was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD."**

"HYDRA's been hiding in SHIELD for 70 years." Steve whispered.

"And we never suspected a thing." Natasha added.

**"For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed."**

**"That's impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you."**

"Not if they didn't know." Natasha Steve said.

"How did we not know?" Fury asked.

**A picture of the newspaper depicting Howard and Maria Stark's death was shown. "Accidents will happen."**

"They- they were assassinated?" Tony asked.

Howard was having similar thoughts.

"Oh my god." Pepper whispered.

**Pictures of Fury's file with the word deceased stamped over it was shown.**

"Anyone who suspects anything... they get killed." Steve said.

"Fury knew something. We know something, Zola's gonna kill us." Natasha said to Steve.

**"HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your Life; a zero sum."**

"They're everywhere and we don't even know who they are." Steve gasped.

**Steve punches the screen. Zola appears on another. "As I was saying-"**

"He really said: Don't interrupt me." Ned said, trying to shed some light on the situation.

**"What's on this drive?" Steve asks.**

**"Project Insight requires insight. So I wrote an algorithm."**

**"What kind of algorithm? What does it do?" Natasha asks, quickly.**

"Now you're asking the right questions." Coulson said.

**"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it." The door closes, Steve throws his shield to try and stop it but he's too late.**

"So close." Sam said.

**"Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops." Natasha warns.**

"Shit."

**"Who fired it?"**

**"SHIELD"**

"Well yes, but actually no." Shuri said.

**"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain."**

"Really? We couldn't tell." Strange said.

**Natasha takes the drive. "Admit it, it's better this way. We're both of us...out of time." Steve lifts up the metal grate, just before the bomb hits, he and Natasha jump in. He covers them with his shield as the debris falls. The screen goes black.**

"Do us all a favor and don't be dead." Maria said.

**Steve lifts a large piece of debris and frees himself. Natasha hasn't moved.**

"Natasha?" Steve asked softly.

**Steve picks her up and frees her. A SHIELD plane appears overhead. Rumlow and the strike team look through the debris. He sees a footprint. "Call in the asset."**

"Who's the asset?" Steve asked, worried. Bucky breathed in heavily and looked away. 

**Pierce is walking through his house. The Winter soldier is sitting in the shadows.**

Steve and Natasha stare at him, he has his mask off so it should be easier to place his face, they find that they cant. 

Bucky tensed up.

**"I'm going to go, Mr. Pierce. You need anything before I leave?" The housekeeper asks.**

**"No. Uh...it's fine, Renata, you can go home."**

**"Okay, night-night."**

**"Night." Renata leaves.**

**"Want some milk?"**

"I don't think he'll answer." Clint said.

**The Winter Soldier doesn't reply. "The timetable has moved. Our window is limited. Two targets, Level Six. *He pours himself a glass and joins him at the table* They already cost me Zola. I want confirmed death in ten hours." Renata walks back in.**

"He's gonna kill her." Natasha said.

**"Sorry, Mr. Pierce, I...I forgot my phone." She says.**

**"Oh, Renata. I wish you would have knocked." Pierce picks up a gun and shoots her.**

"Oh my god." Wanda whispered.

"She was innocent." Hope said.

**Sam returns home from his run, and hears a knock at the door. He opens it and sees Steve and Natasha. "Hey man." He greets.**

**"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low." Steve says.**

**"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha says.**

"Well, not everyone, but most people." Clint said.

**"Not everyone." Sam lets them in.**

**Steve washes his hands, Natasha is drying her hair. "You okay?"**

**"Yeah."**

"Liar." Steve said, not accusingly though, just an observation.

**"What's going on?"**

**" When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but...I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."**

"Maybe there never was one." Natasha sighed.

**"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business."**

Natasha smiled briefly.

**"I owe you."**

**"It's okay."**

**"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, and you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?"**

"I would." Steve said. "And you always said I'm a terrible liar so you know its true."

**"I would now. And I'm always honest."**

**"Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."**

"I didn't die... and it wasn't for nothing." Steve said.

**"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting." Sam enters.**

**"I made breakfast. If you guys...eat that sort of thing."**

"Who doesn't eat breakfast?" Bruce asked. Peter, Tony, Ned and Vision raised their hands. "You're an android, you don't count." Bruce told Vision.

**The three of them are now sat at Sam's kitchen table. "So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?"**

"Either Pierce or Sitwell." Steve said.

"Or maybe it was a team effort." Natasha suggested.

**"Pierce."**

**" Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world."**

**"But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."**

**"So was Jasper Sitwell."**

"Now you're on the right track." Fury said.

**"So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"**

"You don't." Sam said.

**"The answer is: you don't." Sam says, joining the conversation, and he drops a file on the table.**

**"What's this?"**

**"Call it a resume."**

"New addition to the dream team." Tony said.

**Natasha picks up a photo. "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you. You didn't say he was a para-rescue." She says.**

**"Is this Riley?" Steve asks.**

**"Yeah."**

**"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?"**

"Haha no." Sam said.

**"No. These." He hands Steve another file.**

**"I thought you said you were a pilot."**

"I never said that, you assumed I was." Sam corrected.

**"I never said pilot."**

**"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."**

"And I'm going back in for a better one." Sam said.

**"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."**

"Logic."

**"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"**

**"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."**

**"Shouldn't be a problem." He drops the file and it says 'EXO-7. Falcon. Classified.'**

"So should we just call you falcon now or..." Steve joked.

**Senator Stern is walking with Sitwell. "Listen, I gotta fly home tonight, cause uh...I got some constituency problem, and I gotta press the flesh." Stern says.**

"Ugh. That asshole." Tony groaned.

**"Any constituent in particular, Mr. Senator?" Sitwell asks.**

**"Uh...no, not really. 23, kind of hot. Real hot."**

"Creep." Wanda said.

**"You know, wants to be a reporter, I think. I don't know, who listens at that point?"**

"Rude too." Hope said.

**"Doesn't sound much of a problem to me."**

**"Really? Cause she's killing my back. Look, this isn't the place to talk about it. *He touches the pin on Sitwell's jacket* This is a nice pin."**

**"Thank you."**

"Is it just me or does Sitwell have a very punchable face?" Natasha asked.

**"Come here. *They get closer* Hail HYDRA"**

"Him too?" Rhodey asked.

**They pull back. "See, it's right there..."**

**"I just saw that, yeah."**

**"Should I get it checked?"**

**"I think you should." Stern leaves, Sitwell's phone rings. Pierce is calling.**

Sam smirked.

**"I need a minute. Bring the car around." He says to his men.**

**"Yes, sir?"**

**"Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious." Sam says from the other end, indicating it was not, in fact, Pierce.**

"You're not pierce." Maria said.

"I am not." Sam said.

**"Who is this?"**

**"The good looking guy in the sunglasses, your ten o'clock." He looks and sees no one.**

**"Your other ten o'clock." He notices Sam.**

**"There you go."**

**"What do you want?"**

"A couple things actually." Sam answered.

**"You're gonna go around the corner, to your right. There's a grey car, two spaces down. You and I are gonna take a ride."**

**"And why would I do that?"**

**"Because that tie looks really expensive, and I'd hate to mess it up." A red dot on his tie, indicates he's being targeted.**

"You're pretty good at this whole threatening thing." Natasha complimented.

**Sitwell is thrown through some doors. Steve walks out after him, Natasha following. "Tell me about Zola's algorithm."**

**"Never heard of it."**

"Don't play dumb now." Loki said.

**"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"**

**"I was throwing up, I get seasick."**

"Even if that is a lie, he looks like the type that would. Sitwell is a bit of a wimp." Clint said.

**Steve forces him to the edge of the rooftop. "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers." Steve lets him go.**

**" You're right. It's not. It's hers."**

"Damn right it is." Natasha said.

**Natasha kicks Sitwell off the roof. "Oh, wait. What about that girl from accounting, Laura...?"**

"You're still on that?" Steve asked.

**"Lillian. Lip piercing, right?"**

**"Yeah, she's cute."**

**"Yeah, I'm not ready for that."**

"And back to discussing Steve's love life." Maria said.

"It is such a fun topic." Natasha added.

**Sam, wearing a wing suit drops Sitwell back on the roof.**

"Y-you wear a wing suit." Steve said. "That's what project falcon is." Sam answered.

"That's cool."

**Steve and Natasha walk up to a cowering Sitwell. "Zola's algorithm is a program...for choosing Insight's targets!"**

"Okay now we're getting somewhere." Fury said.

**"What targets?"**

**"You!"**

"I expected as much." Steve said.

**"A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city."**

"What do those random people have to do with anything?" Scott asked.

**"Bruce Banner"**

"Of course." Bruce muttered.

**"Stephen Strange"**

"Me?" Strange asked.

**"anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future."**

"That could mean anyone in this room as well." Maria said.

**"The future? How could it know?"**

"That's a good question." Clint said.

**Sitwell laughs, Sam steps closer. "How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it."**

"Of course he did." Tony said.

**"Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."**

"So better question, what do they not know?" Steve asked.

**"And what then?"**

**"Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me."**

"Not if we do it first." Natasha smirked.

**"What then?!"**

**"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."**

"Project insight itself was a bad idea to begin with. This is 10 times worse." Steve said.

**The 4 of them are now in a car. "HYDRA doesn't like leaks." Sitwell says.**

**"So why don't you try sticking a cork in it." Sam suggests.**

"I agree with that sentiment. This guy is pissing me off." Clint said.

**"Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here." Natasha says.**

**"I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly." Steve says.**

"That's dangerous." Maria said.

**"What?! Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea." The Winter Soldier lands on the roof and pulls Sitwell out of the car and tosses him into oncoming traffic.**

"Well shit. Now we can't access the helicarriers." Natasha muttered.

"But at least Sitwell's out of the way, that's gotta count for something." Steve tried.

**Natasha jumps into the front seat as The Winter Soldier starts shooting. Sam slams on the breaks, knocking him off the roof. He uses his metal arm to ease the landing and stands up.**

"Oh no." Steve breathed.

Everyone leaned forward, tense with anticipation.

Bucky squeezed his eyes shut and tensed, not wanting to watch himself try to kill his best friend, and subsequently his best friend's friends.

**Another car crashes into them, pushing them forward. The Winter Soldier leaps onto the back of their car, breaking the glass. Sam slammed on the breaks. Natasha felt around for a gun. The Winter Soldier punches through the glass and pulls out the steering wheel.**

"Holy shit. This guy is strong as hell." Quill said.

**"Shit." Sam curses.**

**Natasha starts shooting up at him. He jumps onto the car behind them, it slams back into Sams car.**

**"Hang on!" Steve yells. He, Natasha and Sam bunch up against the passenger side door, Steve kicks it off, they fall out before the car flips.**

"This is intense." May whispered.

**The other car stops, The Winter Soldier steps off. A man hands him a large gun. He fires, hitting Steve's shield, Steve crashes into a bus, causing a crash.**

"What I would give to be a resilient as you." Tony said.

**3 others start shooting at Natasha and Sam. Natasha shoots back, and ducks out of the way of a shot from The Winter Soldier. She runs for cover behind a car, which in turn gets blown out of the way. She uses a grappling hook to save herself from falling.**

"How many spy gadgets do you keep on you at all times, I'm curious." Scott asked.

"Only the incredibly useful ones." Natasha answered.

**The Winter Soldier takes a different gun. He sees Steve shield and goes to take his shot, Natasha shoots him first, hitting one of his lenses. He takes them off.**

'I recognize those eyes.' Steve thought, while at the same time denying it. It couldn't be him, could it? He didn't want to know.

**He gets back up and starts shooting at Natasha. The others soon join him, Natasha runs. "** _**I have her. Find him.** _ **" He says, in Russian.**

"Another thing we know about him." Natasha said.

**He jumps down, landing on a car. The others soon follow, wired to cars. They start shooting at the bus Steve's in. Steve runs through the bus and picks up his shield. Sam gets back up, knife in hand, kicks the guy over the bridge and takes his gun.**

"Badass." Rhodey said.

**Steve gets closer to the man shooting at him. Sam shoots one of the men. Steve starts running and takes the man out, then sees The Winter Soldier behind a car.**

**"Go! I got this!" Sam yells. A police car gets blown up. The Winter Soldier reloads his gun and slides a bomb under the car.**

'It is. It's him.' Steve thought, solemnly. Still not wanting it to be true, then he remembered what Bucky said as they watched the last film. 'I've had HYDRA in my brain, don't recommend it.' And his doubts were confirmed.

**"I make an LZ, twenty-three hundred block of Virginia Avenue. Rendezvous two minutes. Taking fire above and below expressway. Civilians threatened. Repeat, civilians threatened." Natasha says. The bomb explodes.**

Everyone flinched back. Expecting it, obviously, but not prepared for it.

Natasha was actually behind him. She jumps up and wraps her legs around his neck. The Winter Soldier throws her off. He picks up his gun, she throws an electric disk at him and runs. 

**"Clever." Clint said.**

**He rips the disk off. " Get out of the way! Stay out of the way!" Natasha screams. She gets hit with something. He is on a car behind her. Steve runs toward him, he punches Steve's shield, then kicks him away.**

"How the hell is he so strong?" Thor asked.

**He runs out of bullets, then grabs a different gun and starts shooting. Steve jumps and kicks his hand. He drops the gun and they start fist-fighting. He now has the shield, Steve is on the ground. He throws the shield at him, Steve dodges.**

"Whoa."

**He pulls out a knife and they continue fighting.**

"Again with the pocket knives." Shuri said, trying and failing to lighten the mood.

**Steve hits him in the face, the kicks him in the stomach. Then twists his arm and shoves him to the floor. He puts Steve in a choke-hold with his metal arm. Then throws him.**

"I'd say you've finally met a foe you can't beat so easily." Gamora commented.

**Steve gets back up, and they continue their fight. He pulls the pocket knife back out. Steve takes his shield out of the car. He punches him, Steve takes him by the face and flips him over, the rest of the mask comes off.**

Everyone waited in anticipation, to find out who it is they were dealing with.

**He turns around, revealing himself to be Bucky Barnes.**

Everyone gasped. "You're the winter soldier?" Everyone asked.

Bucky nodded mutely. "I was." He answered. 

"What happened?" Steve asked.

"I don't remember a lot of it. I fell from the train, thinking that I was going to die. HYDRA took me, they did some experiments, cut my arm off and replaced it, brainwashed me-" He quickly cut himself off. "Can we just continue?" He asked. 

**"Bucky?" Steve asks.**

**"Who the hell is Bucky?" he asks.**

"You didn't remember?" Steve asked, feeling a heavy weight of despair on his chest.

"I was forced to forget." Bucky answered, no clear emotion in his voice. 

**Sam flies in and knocks The Winter Soldier down, he stands back up and goes to shoot, Natasha uses one of his discarded guns to blow up a car. The Winter Soldier is gone.**

"A ghost story." Bucky muttered.

**SHIELD personnel show up. "Drop the shield, Cap!" Rumlow yells.**

"Not these assholes too." Clint complained.

**"On your knees! Get on your knees! Now! Get down! Get down!* He kicks the back of Steve's knee* Get on your knees! Down! *Don't move.* A helicopter is above them* Put the gun down. Not here. Not here!" Rollins lowers the gun, the three of them are taken into custody.**


	6. Furys Alive

**Steve, Natasha and Sam are in the back of a van. "It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me." Steve says.**

**"How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago." Sam asks.**

"I have a similar question." Howard said.

**"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..."**

"Wait he started the experiments before the fall?" Clint asked.

**"None of that's your fault, Steve." Natasha says.**

"Listen to her, Steve." Peggy said, remembering the similar conversation they had all those years ago after Bucky's 'death.'

**"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."**

**Sam sees that Natasha is bleeding and turns to the guard. "We need to get a doctor here. We don't put pressure on that wound she's gonna bleed out here in the truck." Sam says.**

"Look at you, being all responsible." Natasha said.

**One of the guards pulls out a weapon and uses it on the other guard.**

"That's definitely not one of Rumlow's." Steve said.

**They take the helmet off, being revealed as Maria. "Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain. *She turns to Sam* Who's this guy?" She asks.**

"The falcon." Clint said in a deep voice.

**The shield vehicles pull into a tunnel. Rumlow and some others get out. "Three holes. Start digging." Rumlow commands.**

"I'm sorry, what?" Tony asked.

**They open the door to the one, Sam, Maria, Steve and Natasha were in, only to find that they are no longer there and there's a hole in the floor.**

"Smart."

**Maria opens the door of a different vehicle. Steve helps Natasha out, Sam follows. They walk into the building.**

"Where are you?" Scott asked.

**"GSW. She's lost at least a pint." Maria says, referring to Natasha.**

**"Maybe two." Sam adds.**

**"Let me take her." The doctor says.**

**"She'll want to see him first."**

"See who?" Natasha asks slowly.

**She takes the three of them to Fury, who is alive.**

"Oh, thank god." Maria breathed.

"You're alive." Natasha added. 

**"About damn time." Fury says.**

The SHIELD agents all laughed. "Yep, that's definitely Fury." Clint said.

 **The doctor is putting pressure of Natasha's wound. "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache." Fury lists.**

"I- I apologize for that. Whether it means anything or not, I just, I'm sorry." Bucky said.

**"Don't forget your collapsed lung." The doctor adds.**

**" Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good."**

"Of course you are." Natasha said.

**"They cut you open, your heart stopped." Natasha says.**

**"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."**

"Nothing I do ever works out for me. But I'm glad it was able to help you." Bruce said.

**"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asks.**

**"Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful." Maria answers.**

**" Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."**

"So you faked your death." Steve said. 

**Inside of a bank, Bucky is sitting in a chair, HYDRA agents are fixing his metal arm, other are guarding the room, Rollins among them. Bucky is having a flashback. "Sergeant Barnes" Zola says.**

**Flashes of falling off the train appear. "Bucky, no!" Steve yells.**

Bucky squeezed his eyes shut, breathing becoming labored.

**Flashes of being dragged through the snow and surgery appear. "The procedure has already started." Zola says. Agents start amputating his arm.**

Everyone watched in pure horror.

**He looks at his new arm. "You are to be the new fist of HYDRA." He puts one of the agents in a choke-hold. "Put him on ice." Bucky is put in a cryo tank, it freezes over.**

Bucky started shaking his head, trying to will the memories, now fresh in his mind, away.

**Bucky snaps back into the present and punches an agent away. Rollins points a gun at him.**

Bucky flinched.

**Pierce and Rumlow arrive. "Sir, he's...he's unstable. Erratic." A scientist informs, they enter the room anyway.**

**Pierce holds up his hands, a gesture for them to lower their guns. "Mission report." Bucky doesn't respond. "Mission report, now." Pierce hits him in the face.**

Everyone flinched away. "My god." Steve whispered.

**"The man on the bridge *Steve is shown mouthing Bucky's name* Who was he?" Bucky asks.**

**"You met him earlier this week on another assignment." Pierce lies.**

"There's no use in lying to him now." Natasha said.

 **"I knew him."**

Everyone sucked in a breath, wondering what HYDRA would do to him if he started figuring more things out.

**"Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push."**

"By killing millions of innocent people." Steve said, angrily.

**"But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves." Pierce says.**

**"But I knew him." Bucky protests.**

**Pierce stands up. "Prep him." He says.**

Bucky froze.

**"He's been out of cryo-freeze too long." A scientist says.**

**"Then wipe him and start over." Pierce demands.**

**2 scientists force him to lay back in the chair, 1 puts something in his mouth. His arms are cuffed to the chair. The machine above wraps around his head.**

Bucky leaned back in his chair and looked away, breathing heavily.

**He starts screaming. Rumlow, Pierce and other agents leave.**

"Oh my god." Steve whispered, horrified. Eyes widening with un-shed tears. That was his best friend, and her was being tortured and he couldn't do anything about it. "I'm sorry." He whispered to Bucky. "I'm so sorry."

 **Fury is looking at a picture of Pierce. "This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said, 'Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility.' See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues." He says.**

Nobody said anything, just letting Pierce's betrayal of Fury sink in.

**"We have to stop the launch." Natasha says.**

"Yes, but how?" Steve asked.

**"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore."**

"Rat bastards." Fury muttered.

**He opens a case. "What's that?" Sam asks.**

**"Once the Helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized." Maria says.**

**"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own."**

"You would have to do it with all three." Coulson said.

**"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational a whole lot of people are gonna die."**

**"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA."**

"Which they probably all are." Clint said.

**"We need to get pass them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left..."**

"We can't salvage anything." Steve protested.

**"We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down SHIELD." Steve says.**

**"SHIELD had nothing to do with it."**

"SHIELD is compromised." Everyone yelled. 

**"You gave me this mission, this is how it ends. SHIELD's been compromised, you said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."**

**"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed."**

"Not until it was almost too late, we can't risk this." Natasha said.

**"And how many paid the price before you did?"**

**"Look, I didn't know about Barnes."**

"And what would you have done of you did?" Steve asked.

**"Even if you have, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes."**

"There is no easy way out of this." Steve added.

**"He's right." Maria says. Fury looks each of them. "Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower." Sam says.**

**"Well... Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."**

"Nice."

**Steve is on a bridge looking over the water, he's having a flashback. "We looked for you after. My folks wanted to give you a ride to the cemetery." Bucky says.**

"Your mothers funeral." Bucky said quietly.

**"I know, I'm sorry. I just...kind of wanted to be alone."**

**"How was it?"**

**"It was okay. She's next to Dad."**

Peggy smiled sadly at him. 

**"I was gonna ask..."**

**"I know what you're gonna say, Buck, I just..."**

**"We can put the couch cushions on the floor like when we were kids. It'll be fun. All you gotta do is shine my shoes, maybe ta** **ke out the trash."**

Bucky and Steve laughed a little, remembering the old times.

**Steve searches for his key. Bucky picks it up off the ground and hands it to him. "Come on."**

**"Thank you, Buck, but I can get by on my own."**

**"The thing is, you don't have to. I'm with you to the end of the line, pal."**

Steve and Bucky looked at each other with glassy eyes.

**Sam walks up to Steve. "He's gonna be there, you know?" Sam says.**

**"I know."**

**"Look, whoever he used to be, the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop."**

"What if you could do both?" Steve asked.

**"I don't know if I can do that."**

**"Well, he might not give you a choice. He doesn't know you."**

**"He will. Gear up, it's time." Steve turns to leave.**

**"You gonna wear that?"**

**"No. If you're gonna fight a war, you gotta wear a uniform."**

"What are you planning?" Natasha asked.

**A guard(Stan Lee) Is walking around the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian. "Oh, man. I am so fired!" He says once he sees the uniform on the Captain America mannequin has been stolen.**

"You broke into a museum to steal a uniform." Fury said with a laugh.

**Maria, Sam and Steve are walking through the woods, they see the Triskelion in the distance.**

"That is a long walk." Peter said.

**"We are in final launch sequence." Someone says over the PA. "We are go on guidance."**

**"All personnel to launch station."**

"We're running very low on time." Maria said.

**Pierce is meeting with the world security council. "And how was your flight?" Pierce asks.**

**"Lovely. The ride from the airport less so." Hawley says.**

**"Sadly, SHIELD can't control everything."**

**"Including Captain America." Rockwell says.**

Everyone rolled their eyes, all very fed up with the council.

**An agent hands Pierce a case. "This facility is bio-metrically controlled, and these will give you unrestricted access."**

"Whatever that is, I don't trust it." Natasha said.

**Agents are talking in the project insight prep room. "I've been parking there for two months."**

**"But it's his spot."**

**"So where's he been?"**

**"I think Afghanistan."**

"Wouldn't be a proper workplace without people complaining about a parking spot." Tony said.

 **"Negative, DT-6. The pattern is full." He says in his earpiece, then turns to the other guy. "Well, he could have said something."**

"He could have." Clint agreed, joining the conversation.

**They hear a high pitched ring, and exclaim in pain. "Must be the dish."**

**"I'll check it out."**

**"Triskelion command request we clear the area for launch." He opens the door. Sam and Maria have guns pointed at him, Steve is close by. "Excuse us." Steve says, they walk in.**

"So intimidating." Maria joked.

**"I know the road hasn't exactly been smooth, and some of you would have gladly kicked me out of the car along the way. Finally we're here, and the world should be grateful." Pierce says.**

"No, I don't think we will." Steve said.

**"Attention, all SHIELD agents. This is Steve Rogers."**

"And here's the speech." Sam said.

**"You've heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. SHIELD is not what we thought it was, it's been taken over by HYDRA."**

"I'm starting to wonder how many were HYDRA and how many weren't." Steve said.

 **"Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you."**

"Trust no one." Natasha muttered.

**"They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot Nick Fury and it won't end there. If you launch those Helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way, unless we stop them."**

"That's a scary thought: What if HYDRA gains absolute control?" Bruce said.

**"I know I'm asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high, it always has been, and it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not." Steve says over the PA.**

"You're pretty good at that." Scott said.

**"Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?"**

"I'm willing to bet it was off the top of his head." Tony said.

**"You smug son of a bitch." Rockwell says.**

**"Arrest him." Singh says to the two agents in the room.**

**Rollins points his gun at Singh. "I guess I've got the floor."**

"He's 2 steps ahead of us." Natasha sighed.

**Rumlow walks into the control room. "Preempt the launch sequence. Send those ships up now." The tech hesitates.**

"He doesn't trust him. Good." Fury said.

**"Is there a problem?" Rumlow asks.**

**"Um..."**

**"Is there a problem?"**

**"I'm sorry, sir... I'm not gonna launch those ships. Captain's orders."**

Steve smiled, he was a good man.

**Rumlow points a gun at him. "Move away from your station."**

**"Like he said *Sharon points her gun at Rumlow, other people point guns at each other* Captain's orders." She says.**

**"You picked the wrong side, Agent."**

**"Depends on where you're standing."**

"A very smart woman." Steve said. 

**Rumlow lowers his gun, then drops it. he grabs a knife and stabs Sharon making her drop hers.**

Everyone gasped.

 **The situation escalates, quickly becoming a gun fight. Sharon and some other agents duck under the desks. Rumlow types something on the computer, then leaves, Sharon shoots at him.**

"She was so close." Peggy said.

**The bay doors start opening. "Close the bay door! Close the bay door now! Close the bay door!" Agent yells.** **HYDRA agents start shooting the SHIELD agents.**

**Maria watches on a screen. "They're initiating launch."**


	7. The Fall of SHIELD

**Steve and Sam are running toward the helicarriers. " Hey, Cap, how do we know the good guys from the bad guys?" Sam asks.**

**"If they're shooting at you, they're bad."**

"Makes sense." Peter said

**Sam flies off in his wing suit, Steve jumps down to the lower deck. Agents start shooting at him. He punches one in the face and takes a grenade off of him, throwing it at some other agents.**

"Haha. Nice."

**Sam flies toward a helicarrier and gets shot at. "Hey, Cap, I found those bad guys you were talking about."**

"They do seem like bad guys." Ned said.

**"You okay?"**

**"I'm not dead yet."**

"That's good." Steve said.

**Pierce watches from the window. "Let me ask you a question. What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow, and you knew that they were gonna drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution? And you could just stop it with a flick of the switch."**

"That is not an adequate comparison at all." Natasha said 

**"Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you all?"**

**"Not if it was your switch" Singh says and throws the glass away.**

"I respect him now." Tony said.

**An agent hands Pierce a gun. Hawley kicks Singh out of the way and takes out the HYDRA agents in the room. She points a gun at Peirce.**

"That is definitely not Hawley." Maria said.

**She presses something on the side of her head. "I'm sorry." She said in an almost computer like voice. She removes the disguise, revealing herself to be Natasha. "Did I step on your moment?"**

"Haha." Clint cheered. 

**Techs are looking at a map. "Satellites in range at three thousand feet." One says.**

"Shit."

**"Falcon, status?" Maria asks.**

**"Engaging." He flies down and avoids the shots from the helicarrier as he lands on it.**

**"Alright, Cap, I'm in." A jet starts shooting at him. "Oh shit." He flies away, dodging the shots. He jumps off, flying on the underside of the helicarrier.**

"You jinxed it." Scott said.

"I don't believe in jinxes." Sam said.

**Steve punches an agent, hits one with his shield, kicks one, hits another with his shield, kicks three more, and hits two more with his shield. "Eight minutes, Cap." Maria says.**

**"Working on it." He gets inside.**

"Well work harder." Maria said.

**Natasha is on the computer. "What are you doing?" Rockwell asks.**

**"She's disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the Internet." Pierce answers.**

**"Including HYDRA's." Natasha adds.**

"That's risky." Clint said.

"It needs to be done, so we can start over." Natasha said.

**"And SHIELD's. If you do this, non of your past is gonna remain hidden. *Natasha falters* Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are?"**

**"Are you?"**

"No, he's not, the coward." Fury said.

**Steve is in the control center of helicarrier alpha. He takes out one of the discs Fury gave them and inserts it. "Alpha lock." He says.**

**"Falcon, where are you now?" Maria asks.**

**"I had to take a detour!" He yells.**

"Must've been some detour." Steve said.

**The plane gets target lock on Sam, who dodges the bullets, letting them hit the helicarrier. "Whoo! Oh Yeah!"**

"You sound like you're having way too much fun." Natasha joked.

**He gets inside of the helicarrier's control center. "I'm in." He inserts another one of the discs that Fury gave them. "Bravo lock." He says, then leaves the helicarrier.**

**"Two down, one to go."**

"Okay. Good. We're getting closer." Steve said.

**A group of agents are standing together. "All SHIELD pilots, scramble. We're the only air support Captain Rogers has got." A plane get's shot down. The Winter Soldier appears, and shoots another plane.**

"No offence dude, but I really don't like you." Sam said.

 **He shoots an agent, then picks up a grenade and throws it into a plane. He punches one agent and kicks another. He jumps onto a plane and kills the pilot, he rips the door off and gets inside.**

Bucky sighed. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

**Natasha is still on the computer. "Disabling the encryption is an executive order, it takes two Alpha Level members." Pierce says.**

**"Don't worry, company's coming." Natasha responds.**

"It's you, isn't it?" Steve asked Fury.

 **A helicopter lands. Fury steps out and enters the building.**

"Pierce is screwed now." Clint said.

**"Did you get my flowers? I'm glad you're here, Nick."**

**"Really? Cause I thought you had me killed."**

"Shit's about to go down." Tony said.

**"You know how the game works."**

**"So why make me head of SHIELD?"**

**"Cause you were the best and the most ruthless person I ever met."**

Fury glared at the screen.

**"I did what I did to protect people."**

**"Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder, war"**

"That's not how this works." Coulson said. 

**"It's just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago. Diplomacy? Holding action, a band-aid. And you know where I learned that; Bogota."**

"What happened there?" Hope asked, receiving no answer.

**"You didn't ask, you just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of 7 billion people by sacrificing 20 million."**

"That's insanity." Thor said. 

**"It's the next step, Nick, if you have the courage to take it."**

**"No, I have the courage not to." He takes him to the retinal scanner.**

**"Retinal scanner active." The computer voice says.**

**Natasha holds a gun to his head. "You don't you think we wiped your clearance from the system?"**

"You're a fool to think that I don't have a backup plan. That's what I think." Fury said.

**"I know you erased my password, probably deleted my retinal scan, but if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary*He lifts his eye-patch, revealing a scarred eye* You need to keep both eyes open."**

Everyone cringed upon seeing Fury's eye. This was the first time they've ever seen it.

"This just makes me even more curious as to how that happened." Tony said.

**They both look at the retinal scanner. "Alpha Level confirmed. Encryption code accepted. Safeguards removed." The computer voice says. Pierce looks shocked.**

"I don't know why he's so surprised that it worked." Maria said.

**"Charlie Carrier's forty-five degrees off the port bow. *She sees two HYDRA agents entering, moves back in her seat and shoots them* Six minutes." Maria says.**

Everyone tensed, they were running out of time.

**Steve is being chased by HYDRA agents. "Hey, Sam, I'm gonna need a ride." He says.**

**"Let me know when." Sam replies. Steve jumps off, avoiding a missile.**

**"I just did!" He yells.**

"Still so reckless." Natasha smiled.

**Sam quickly flies down to catch him, then drops him off on the helicarrier. "You know, you're a lot heavier than you look." Sam says.**

**"I had a big breakfast."**

Everyone laughed.

**The winter soldier pushes Steve off of the helicarrier. "Steve!" Sam yells.**

Everyone flinched.

"I'm sorry, Steve." Bucky said.

**Sam goes to fly after him. The winter soldier grabs his wing and throws him back. Sam starts shooting at him, he dodges the shots and uses a grappling hook to pull Sam down, he pulls the wing off and runs toward him and kicks Sam off.**

"I apologize for that as well." Bucky said.

"Whatever man." Sam said, not unkindly.

**Sam removes the remaining wing, and uses his parachute to land. "Cap? Cap, come in. Are you okay?" He asks.**

**Steve is hanging on the helicarrier. "Yeah, I'm here! I'm still on the Helicarrier. *He pulls himself up* Where are you?"**

**"I'm grounded, the suit's down. Sorry, Cap."**

"Don't apologize." Steve said. "It's fine."

**"Don't worry, I got it." Steve says. The winter soldier watches Steve from above.**

"Not gonna lie, that looks hella creepy." Peter said.

**Shield agents are inside, panicking. "Emergency evacuation alert. All personnel proceed to designated safety zones." A woman says over the PA.**

**"All SHIELD agents regroup at Rally Point Delta." Rumlow stabs him, then kills the rest.**

**"Sir, Council's been breached."**

"Damn right it has." Natasha smirked.

**"Repeat, dispatch." Rumlow says.**

**"Black Widow's up there."**

**"Headed up!" Hill watches on her monitor.**

**"Falcon?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"Rumlow's headed for the Council."**

**"I'm on it."**

"Let's go get that son of a bitch." Steve said.

**Steve is in the helicarrier control room, The winter soldier across from him. " People are gonna die, Buck. I can't let that happen. Please, don't make me do this."**

"I'm-" Bucky started.

"Stop apologizing." Steve said. 

**Steve throws his shield at him. The winter soldier shoots at him, Steve knocks him off, He stands back up knife in hand. They continue fighting. Steve goes to insert the last chip. The winter soldier stops him. They continue fighting, Steve kicks him away.**

"Come on, come on." Maria quietly chanted, needing Steve to put that last chip in.

**He appears behind Steve. Steve shoves him with his shield. They continue fighting. The fall over the railing, the chip gets knocked out of Steve's hand. He punches Steve, who gets knocked back. Steve grabs the chip.**

Steve sighed in relief, he had the chip again.

**He takes Steve's hands and The chip is lost again. Steve hits him in the face, knocking him over the edge.**

"Shit."

**The data transfer is complete. "Done. *She pulls out her phone* And its trending." Natasha says.**

"Of course it is." Steve sighed.

**Pierce activates the devices he gave the council earlier, they burn holes in their chests.**

"Oh my god." 

**Natasha pulls a gun on him. "Unless you want two inch hole in your sternum, I'd put that gun down. That was armed the moment you pinned it on." She and Fury, hesitatingly, lowered their guns.**

"That bastard." Clint cursed.

**Steve runs to grab the chip. The winter soldier throws Steve's shield at Steve, which prompts Steve to use it to block the gunshots. Steve throws the shield, he knocks it away, then stabs Steve, who headbutts him.**

"I wish this didn't have to happen." Steve said. 

**He pushes Steve into a wall, Steve takes the blade out of his shoulder. He grabs the chip, Steve grabs his hands, then chokes him, then forces his head and arm apart. "Drop it!" He says.**

"It sounds like your talking to a dog with a tennis ball in its mouth the way you said that." Sam said.

**Steve breaks his arm, he screams in pain. "Drop it." Steve puts him in a choke-hold, he loses consciousness and drops the chip. Steve grabs it and runs.**

Steve looked at Bucky, apologetically. Bucky nodded his head silently accepting it. No one else dared to say anything. 

**"I'm on 41, headed towards the south-west stairwell." Rumlow says. Sam attacks him. Rumlow headbutts him and pushes him down.**

**"This is gonna hurt. There are no prisoners with HYDRA, just order.** **And order only comes through pain. You ready for yours?"**

"No prisoners?" Bucky asked, lowly. 

**"Man, shut the hell up." Sam says.**

"I agree, he talks too much." Tony said.

**"Lieutenant, how much longer?" Pierce asks.**

**"Sixty-five seconds to satellite link. Targeting grid engaged. Lowering weapons array now." Someone says over a radio.**

"Come on. Hurry up Steve." Natasha said.

**"One minute." Hill says to Steve.**

**Steve pulls himself back up to the control center. The winter soldier shoots him. Steve pulls himself higher, the winter soldier shoots again. Steve pulls himself up the rest of the way.**

**"Thirty seconds, Cap!" Maria says.**

'Come on, Steve.' Became a running mantra in everyone's heads.

**"Stand by." Steve breathes. He goes to insert the chip. "Charlie-" The winter soldier shoots him in the stomach before could.**

"No." Everyone gasped. 

Bucky looked down guiltily, he caused that.

**"We've reached three thousand feet. Sat link coming online now." A tech says. "**

**Deploy algorithm."**

**"Algorithm deployed."**

**"We are go to targets."**

Everyone tensed. 

**Maria sees weapons pointed at the white house, the pentagon, and Avengers tower. Estimating to kill over 715,000 people.**

Everyone in the room started losing hope.

**"Target saturation reached. All targets assigned."**

**"Fire when ready."**

**"Firing in, three, two, one."**

"No!" Everyone yelled, knowing that it was no use. 

**Steve uses his remaining strength to put the chip in.**

Everyone paused for a moment, then started cheering. "Oh, thank god." Steve breathed. 

**"Charlie locked." Steve says.**

"Hell yeah it is." Natasha said.

**"Where are the targets? Where are the targets?"**

**"Okay, Cap, get out of there."**

**Maria says, and starts targeting the three helicarriers.**

**"Fire now." Steve commands.**

"Steve, get out of there!" The avengers yelled.

**"But, Steve..."**

**"Do it! Do it now!" Maria complies. Steve notices The winter soldier screaming, he's trapped.**

Everyone looked at both real Steve and onscreen Steve, wondering if he was going to save his friend.

**"What a waste." Pierce says.**

**"Are you still on the fence about Rogers' chances?" Natasha asks.**

**"Time to go, Councilwoman. This way, come on. You're gonna fly me out of here."**

"What makes you think I would help you after what you just did?" Natasha asked, knowing that she and Fury had a plan of escape. Why wouldn't they?

**"You know, there was a time I would have taken a bullet for you."**

**"You already did. You will again when it's useful."**

"I doubt that." Fury said.

**Natasha pulls out an electric disk and electrocutes herself, disabling the pin. Fury shoots Pierce twice.**

Everyone started cheering again. "Finally."

**Fury goes to wake Natasha up.**

**"Romanoff. Natasha. Natasha, come on!" He says. Natasha opens her eyes.**

**"Ow. Those really do sting." She says.**

"They do." Bucky agreed.

**One helicarrier crashes into another, sending them toward the river. "Hail HYDRA." A dying Pierce says weakly, then dies. A helicarrier crashes into the river, falling into the cargo bay.**

"That's a lot of damage." Peter referenced.

**Steve makes his way down to the winter soldier. Another helicarrier makes its way to the Triskelion. Sam and Rumlow are still fighting, he throws Sam over a table. "You're out of your depth, kid."**

"You seem to have spoke too soon." Sam said.

 **Sam runs as the helicarrier crashes into the building. "Son of a bitch." Rumlow curses.**

"Exactly what he deserved." Fury said.

**Sam is still running. "Please, tell me you got that chopper in the air!" He yells.**

**"Sam, where are you?" Natasha asks.**

**"41st floor, north-west corner!"**

**"We're on it, stay where you are."**

"Not a good idea." Sam said.

**"Not an option!" Sam jumps out of the window and lands in the helicopter, knocking the door off. Natasha pulls him the rest of the way in. "41st floor! 41st!"**

**"It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building!"**

"It'd be useful if they did." Sam said.

"Because this kind of thing happens all of the time?" Quill asked sarcastically.

"You'd be surprised." Fury said. 

**"Hill, where's Steve? You got a location on Rogers?" Natasha asks.**

"Still in that god forsaken helicarrier." Natasha said.

**Still in the helicarrier, Steve frees the winter soldier. "You know me." Steve says.**

**"No I don't."**

**"Bucky, you've known me your whole life." He hits Steve. An engine blows. "Your name is James Buchanan Barnes."**

**He hits Steve again. "Shut up!" He yells.**

Both Steve and Bucky have tears in their eyes. No one wanted to say anything, feeling like they were intruding on an incredibly personal moment, but not being able to do anything about it, so they just watched the emotional scene in silence.

 **"I'm not gonna fight you. *He drops the shield* You're my friend." He pushes Steve to the ground. "You're my mission.* He punches Steve a few times* You're my mission!"**

Bucky let out a shaky breath.

**He halts his fist after a few more blows. "Then finish it. Cause I'm with you to the end of the line." Something falls and Steve falls into the river. The screen goes black.**

Steve's breathing hitched, unpleasant memories rising to the surface.

**Steve washes up on the shore. Bucky pulls him out of the water, he looks at Steve for a moment then walks away.**

"Thank you." Steve said.

**Sam is in Steve's hospital room. 'Trouble man' is playing. from Sam's phone.**

Steve smiled.

**Steve wakes up. "On your left." He says.**

"Damn you." Sam said with a smile.

**Sharon is at a shooting range with a group of CIA agents. She repeatedly hits the bullseye.**

Steve smiled. "I guess she's CIA now." He said.

**Hill is at Stark industries about to undergo a lie detector test. She smiles.**

Maria gave Pepper and Tony a smile, thanking them for helping her.

**Stern walks out of a homeland security building, 2 FBI agents take him into custody.**

"Finally got what he deserved." Tony said.

**Rumlow's charred body is placed on a stretcher.**

A few people cringed at the state of his body.

**Fury enters a small room. Natasha is in a court hearing. "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" Baillif asks.**

**"I do." She answers.**

**"Why haven't we yet heard from Captain Rogers?" Fury opens a black box.**

"Because he in the hospital, let a man have some peace." Sam said.

**"I don't know what there is left left for him to say. I think the wreck in the middle of the Potomac made his point fairly eloquently." She answers.**

"Really that was all they needed." Fury said.

**"Well, he could explain how this country's expected to maintain its national security now that he and you have laid waste to our intelligence apparatus."**

**"HYDRA was selling you lies, not intelligence."**

**"Many of which you seem to have had a personal hand in telling."**

"I knew he was gonna go for that blow." Natasha hissed.

**"Agent, you should know that there are some on this committee who feel, given your service record, both for this country and against it, that you belong in a penitentiary, not mouthing off on Capitol Hill."**

"They're not gonna put me in prison." Natasha said confidently. 

**"You're not gonna put me in a prison. You're not gonna put any of us in a prison. You know why?"**

**"Do enlighten us."**

"It would be my honor." Natasha said.

**"Because you need us. Yes, the world is a vulnerable place, and yes, we helped make it that way. But we're also the ones best qualified to defend it. So if you want to arrest me, arrest me. You'll know where to find me." She stands up and leaves.**

"Welcome to the club of pissing off people in court." Tony said.

**Fury removes his eye-patch and replaces it with sunglasses. Fury douses the room in lighter fluid and sets it on fire.**

"I like the new look." Maria said.

**He walks up to Sam and Steve. "So, you've experienced this sort of thing before?" He asks.**

**"You get used to it." Steve says. They're looking at Fury's gravestone.**

"So the fake death is official." Natasha said.

**"We've been data-mining HYDRA's files. Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship. I'm headed to Europe tonight, wanted to ask if you'd come."**

**"There's something I gotta do first."**

**"How about you, Wilson? Could use a man with your abilities."**

"I'm no spy." Sam said.

**"I'm more of a soldier than a spy." Sam says.**

**"Anybody asks for me, tell them they can find me right here." Fury leaves.**

**Natasha joins them. "You should be honored, that's about as close as he gets to saying thank you." She says.**

"That's true." Maria agreed.

**"Not going with him?" Steve asks.**

**"No."**

**"Not staying here?"**

"I can't." Natasha said.

**"I blew all my covers, I gotta go figure out a new one."**

**"That might take a while."**

**" I'm counting on it. That thing you asked for, I called in a few favors from Kiev." She hands him a file that reads '#17'. "Will you do me a favor? Call that nurse."**

Steve rolled his eyes.

**"She's not a nurse."**

**"And you're not a SHIELD agent."**

**"What was her name again?"**

**"Sharon. She's nice."**

"She's my niece, you know." Peggy said.

"Really?" Steve asked, shocked.

**She kisses Steve's cheek. "Be careful, Steve. You might not want to pull on that thread." She leaves. Steve opens the file, which is information about Bucky.**

"You're gonna go find him?" Maria asked. "I have too." Steve said.

**"You're going after him?"**

**"You don't have to come with me."**

**"I know. When do we start?"**

"Thank you, Sam." Steve said.

 **In a HYDRA lab, Strucker is talking with a scientist.**

Wanda looked away from the screen, a guilty look on her face.

**"It's over. Fury has released everything to the public."**

**"Everything he knows about." Strucker says.**

**"Herr Strucker, if they get word of our work here, if they find out we serve HYDRA..."**

**"HYDRA, SHIELD, two sides of a coin that's no longer currency."**

"Now we know who we're going after next." Steve said.

**They walk over to where Loki's scepter is.**

"This is not very good, then is it." Loki said.

Natasha looked confused for a moment, wondering how they might have got hold of it, but then she remembered giving it to Rumlow after New York. Shit.

**"What we have is worth more than any of them ever knew. We've only scratched the surface and already...There are other facilities doing HYDRA's good work around the world. We'll feed them to Captain America and his colorful friends. Keep them off our scent."**

"And they have multiple bases." Natasha said.

**"What about the volunteers?"**

"Volunteers?" Bucky questioned.

**"The dead will be buried so deep their own ghosts won't be able to find them."**

**"And the survivors?"**

**"The twins." Wanda and Pietro are in separate rooms, trying to control their newly given powers.**

"What-" Steve asked.

"The scepter, they experimented with it, it is what did this to us." Wanda answered.

"They said you were volunteers. Why would you volunteer for something like that?" Bucky asked.

"Desperation.... and anger." Was the only answer she gave. 

**"Sooner or later they will meet the twins. It's not a world of spies anymore, not even a world of heroes. This is the age of miracles, doctor. There's nothing more horrifying than a miracle."**

"I wouldn't consider what you're doing a miracle." Steve said.

**A man walks up to Bucky's exhibit at the Smithsonian. The camera pans and that man is shown to be Bucky.**

"You're gonna start remembering." Natasha said. Bucky nodded. 


End file.
